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Frank Entertainment sees Syracuse as good fit for its new brands

New Tenants at Destiny USA

Butch Gibson from Brunswick works on pin setting machines at Destiny USA's Revolutions location in a file photo from earlier this year. The venue is set to open next month.
(David Lassman | dlassman@syracuse.com)

Destiny USA's Revolutions, opening next month, will be just the second nationwide after a site in Bethlehem, Pa. launched in January. The local CineBowl, opening in the fourth quarter next year at Township 5, will be the fifth in the country.

The first CineBowl opened in Delray Beach, Fla. in February. Locations in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee are opening soon.

Frank Entertainment is 107 years old and has its roots in the cinema business. The company today owns 25 movie theaters under the Frank Theatres brand stretching from Florida to Pennsylvania.

The firm is still owned by the same family that started it.

The planning for the two new brands began nearly 10 years ago, said Tara Nesseralla, vice president of sales and marketing at Frank Entertainment. Their launch has been a longtime ambition of Frank CEO Bruce Frank.

The Syracuse market was appealing because of its large college student population and Canadian tourism in the area, Nesseralla said.

The 55,000-square-foot Revolutions complex will be next door to WonderWorks on Destiny's third floor.

The venue will include a 24-lane bowling alley with dark cherry floors, black lights and high-definition projectors.

It'll also have an upscale dance floor, a Las Vegas-style showroom with seating for more than 250 people, two bars and the Red Brick Grille, a casual dining restaurant with seating for 120.

A sports viewing area will include a 30-foot, high-definition display that can show up to 16 games simultaneously and theater-style booth seating.

CineBowl will feature 16 bowling lanes and 11 movie theaters, including a large-format screen similar to IMAX, Nesseralla said. It'll also have a Red Brick Grille.

The large-format theater will seat 300 people and the others will hold anywhere from 80 to 200, Nesseralla said.

Revolutions is meant as more of a nightlife spot while CineBowl is designed to be family friendly, she added. The Destiny Revolutions will be open until 2 a.m. on the weekends and will be restricted to customers ages 21 and up after 10 p.m.

Both venues will also feature arcade areas. Revolutions plans to hire more than 130 people and CineBowl will have about 100 employees.